Caretaker charged after leaving disabled patient in car

Angela Wheaton, as seen in her driver's license photo. Wheaton is charged with a second-degree misdemeanor after being accused of leaving a patient in a cold car for up to 45 minutes. (Source: Springfield Township Police)

SPRINGFIELD TOWNSHIP, OH (WOIO) - An Akron group home worker has been charged with patient abuse and neglect after police say she accidentally left one of her patients, an adult female with a developmental disability, in a locked car for 35 to 45 minutes.

Wheaton left the 65-year-old patient locked in a van in front of the group home on Feb. 16. Police said she forgot the patient was in the van, and went home after her shift, taking the keys with her. Another worker needed to move the van, so she called Wheaton, who returned the keys. When the worker went to move the van, she found the woman in the backseat.

According to police, temperatures were only a few degrees above zero that night.